The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · until 2025
Galette, a Saga women's select shop, went under after COVID kept foot traffic low
Saga's Galette, a women's apparel and accessories select shop founded in 2013, was ordered bankrupt on 22 August 2025 with about ¥120M in liabilities.
Galette · 2025-08-22
What happened
Galette (株式会社ガレット) was a women's apparel and accessories select shop based in Tosu City, Saga Prefecture, founded in 2013. It ran two physical stores in Tosu alongside several online storefronts on major internet shopping malls.
The COVID-19 pandemic cut foot traffic and sales, and the operating environment stayed harsh even after restrictions eased. Revenue never recovered enough to cover costs, and the company's cash position tightened until continuing looked impossible.
On 22 August 2025 the Saga District Court issued a bankruptcy commencement order for the company, with total liabilities of about ¥120 million.
Why it happened
- A small select shop depended on foot traffic that COVID-19 took away and never fully returned, so sales stayed below what the stores needed to cover.
- The company spread itself thin across two physical stores and several online mall shops, each needing staff and stock, with no format that reached scale.
- Persistent losses and a tightening cash position left no path to keep operating, ending in a bankruptcy order with about ¥120 million in liabilities.
The lesson
A regional select shop lives on walk-in customers, and the pandemic showed that traffic does not always come back. Galette's two stores and online shops could not earn enough once the street emptied.
Aftermath
The Saga District Court ordered Galette into bankruptcy on 22 August 2025, with liabilities of about ¥120 million. The company, founded in 2013, had kept its two Tosu stores and online mall shops open through the pandemic but could not recover sales after customer numbers fell.
Sources
- Fukeiki — Galette (Saga) select shop bankruptcy order, ~¥120M liabilities (Sep 2025)
- Saga Shimbun — Galette (Tosu) women's clothing seller bankruptcy order, ~¥120M liabilities (Sep 2025)
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